Meat Quality Assurance Programmes to Ensure the Best Quality from Suppliers

1. Global Markets

There are many factors which influence the quality of meat products destined to UK retail, catering and leisure markets before they truly enter into the UK food distribution network. The level of availability within the global livestock markets is one of the first factors to come into play. This has a knock on effect with the price of meat, the volume of good quality fresh meat which is available within the market and the size of primals which are put into distribution chains. Whether the products include roasting joints, chops, mince or steaks it is dependent to varying degrees on the quality of the muscles from which the product is taken. The price of meat worldwide has been on the increase in recent years, a trend which unlikely to change soon, which puts additional pressure on those involved at all stages of the meat distribution chain.



Once that meat has entered the UK market, it will typically be further processed or indeed completely processed within this country, taking the meat primals down to the required cuts and finished products. We have conducted thousands of meat quality assurance inspections over the years and this is the short-list of likely quality factors within the UK meat supply chain.



2. Staff

Good staff are, as we all know, very hard to find and even harder to keep. This is just as true in the food industry as any other, and certainly has an impact on the levels of meat quality assurance within meat processing units. The quality of finished products such as steaks and chops is dependent upon accurate cutting by staff who know what is expected from the product, and poor quality cutting can result in wedge cut steaks, underweight products, excessive fat left on a trimmed product, and product which is too thick, too thin or simply very inconsistent in its presentation. This latter can be a particular problem in the catering arena where consistency across neighbouring plates is essential.



3. Packaging

This should more truly be titled Packaging and Understanding the Nature of the Packaging, as vacuum packaging and controlled atmospheres can have an interesting effect on the quality of fresh meat, particularly in the visual appearance if not the actual eating quality. A beef steak stored and distributed in vacuum can develop, during the time spent within the distribution chain, a definite green hue. This can make the product appear to be of particularly poor quality at the time when it is delivered and opened, only to find that it can completely regain its appetising appearance looked at under a different light source, or after being left out of the packaging for the recommended time period following removal of the packaging, and exposure of the product to oxygen. Likewise, the controlled atmosphere in plastic trays used for packing joints can cause a similar discolouration when the meat comes into contact with the side of the plastic container.



Beyond the cosmetic, however, the packaging of meat products can have a significant impact on quality in the form of packs which do not make it through the distribution chain intact, and which tend to be the first items rejected at the delivery point, regardless of which particular sector of the food industry they are supplied to. We estimate that leaking packs of meat due to either inadequate selection of materials, imperfect implementation of the packaging process or poor handling through the food distribution chain make up approximately 30% of all downgraded and rejected meat within the UK catering and leisure industry, based upon the findings of our quality inspections over the past decade.



4. What to Look For

This is a list of what your QA team should focus on when assessing their meat deliveries, again based on the experience we have of conducting meat quality assurance programmes for food groups over the past 20ish years. This is not exhaustive, but if you control these points of meat quality within your food distribution chain you will be on the right track.



Weight

Fat and Visual Lean

Cutting standards

Packaging

Gristle



How much of this is your QA team skilled to assess and recognise? Together, these five points are likely to take control of 95% of your likely meat quality issues.



You can of course get in touch with us about any aspects of food quality assurance which might interest you by visiting FSL Food Quality Assurance.



Author Bio: Tom New has been developing small enterprises for 15 years and takes a huge pleasure in developing relationships with both colleagues and customers, and the joy of constantly learning new skills and expertise. He is currently the MD of food quality consultancy firm FSL Food Quality Assurance along with looking after one or two other small businesses. He tries to combine his time at work with making sure his family don't forget who he is, and trying unsuccessfully to regain the surfing skills he had as an 18 year old.